Police are again urging residents to beware of email and telephone scams after $77,000 was drained from a Sandwich woman’s bank accounts last week.
The 59-year-old woman was in tears when she walked into the Sandwich Police Station on April 22 just after 7 PM to report the theft, police said.
She told police that she had received an email from what appeared to be Norton 360, the computer security company.
The email stated that her subscription to Norton 360 had been renewed at a cost of $278.98.
Not having authorized the renewal, the woman called a phone number at the bottom of the email. The scammer who answered apologized for the mistake and directed the woman to download an app on her laptop. The app provided a form that the woman filled out for her refund. Part of the information the form required was the woman’s bank account number.
Soon afterward, the woman logged onto her bank’s website and was shocked to see that all of her accounts had been drained. The total loss was $77,000, police said.
She told police that the she spoke to the scammer again and he instructed her not to go to police. Instead, he told her to buy $10,000 worth of gift cards for him and he would return the money he took.
The woman hung up and went straight to police.
“They’ve gotten very clever with their tactics,” said Sandwich Police Officer Michael P. Wood. “You should assume that anyone asking you for personal information, if you don’t know them, is trying to scam you. Never ever give out your bank account information or your credit card number unless you’re sure you can trust them.”
Sandwich detectives continue to investigate last week’s theft.
Gloss